Feel free to let out a long curse in the comfort of your home reading this:

Page 17:

“While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation. As such, in balancing the aforementioned considerations in conjunction with the underlying concerns of the Presidential immunity doctrine, a sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options. Further, to assuage the Defendant’s concerns regarding the mental and physical demands during this transition period as well as the considerations set forth in the 2000 OLC Memorandum, this Court will permit Defendant to exercise his right to appear virtually for this proceeding, if he so chooses.”

What is “unconditional discharge”? Exactly what it sounds like:

2. Sentence. When the court imposes a sentence of unconditional discharge, the defendant shall be released with respect to the conviction for which the sentence is imposed without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision. A sentence of unconditional discharge is for all purposes a final judgment of conviction.

https://casetext.com/statute/consolidated-laws-of-new-york/chapter-penal/part-2-sentences/title-e-sentences/article-65-sentences-of-probation-conditional-discharge-and-unconditional-discharge/section-6520-sentence-of-unconditional-discharge-

The judge is literally giving him no imprisonment, fine or penalty, and the entire crux of the decision is that Trump’s rights to exercise his appeals needs to be ripe. So Trump gets all opportunities to clear his name, while the people whose rights he violated by criminal conduct get nothing except maybe the ability to call him a convicted felon, pending appeal.

This is NOT the finding of unconditional discharge. The judge explicitly says he is allowing an opportunity for Trump and the prosecution’s team to make their arguments before sentencing on 1/10/25. But his putting the above paragraph in is certainly going to severely limit what the prosecution will demand by signaling ahead of time that the judge will likely reject any imprisonment, fine or probation.